Thermal pad vs thermal paste: which one each part of your PC needs
Thermal pad vs thermal paste: paste goes on CPU and GPU dies, pads fill measured gaps over VRAM, VRMs and M.2 drives. How to pick thickness, plus three picks.
Delidded: CPU mods, cooling and old PCs that still earn their keep
The LGA 771 to 775 Xeon mod
Run a 45 nm Xeon in a Core 2 board: what the adapter sticker does, which chipsets cope, and how to get through the BIOS side. Five pages, in order:
Latest builds
Cleaning thermal paste with isopropyl alcohol, step by step
Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning thermal paste: why 90 to 99 percent, which wipes, the CPU lid and cooler base, paste in the socket, liquid metal and drying time.
Cleaning dust out of an old PC without breaking anything
Clear dust from an old desktop safely: power and static first, fans held still, heatsinks and PSU vents blown out, no vacuum inside, and what to inspect.
How much thermal paste on a CPU? Amounts by chip size
How much thermal paste on a CPU: a 4 mm bead for most desktop chips, more for long or large lids, a thin film on laptop dies, and how to check the spread.
Running retro Windows on old hardware: installers, drivers and what still works
Installing Windows XP, Vista or 7 on Core 2 era hardware: AHCI vs IDE mode, F6 drivers and nLite, activation today, driver archives and keeping the machine offline.
Sizing a CPU cooler by TDP: what the watt ratings do and do not tell you
What TDP, PL1, PL2 and PPT really mean, why cooler watt ratings are not a standard, and how to size a cooler for a stock or overclocked CPU, old or new.
BIOS, microcode and CPU lists
LGA 771 Xeon microcode
Why a desktop BIOS may not know your Xeon, and what to add.
Microcode in an AMI BIOS
Patching an AMIBIOS 8 image and flashing it back safely.
Microcode in an Award or Phoenix BIOS
The same job for Award and Phoenix-Award boards.
LGA 771 and 775 CPU list
Every quad-core chip of both sockets in one table.
Does my board support this CPU?
Model, revision, support list, BIOS version: the order that works.
CPUID, stepping and sSpec
Read the codes that decide which microcode your chip needs.
Modkit calculators
LGA 771 compatibility checker
Pick a Xeon and your chipset, get a pass or check strip.
FSB overclock calculator
Core clock, bus rating and memory speed from FSB and ratio.
Cooler TDP headroom
Estimate overclocked heat against a cooler rating.
PC power supply calculator
Add up an old build and pick a sensible supply size.
Parts bin picks
Parts links can earn us a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
SPI flashCH341A programmer kit with SOIC8 clip and 1.8 V adapter
Reads and writes 25-series SPI BIOS chips; check the 5 V signal-level issue first.
Grab it on Amazon
CoolerThermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
A dual-tower air cooler for current Intel and AMD sockets.
Grab it on Amazon
Socket modX-Acto #1 precision knife
A thin, replaceable blade for trimming the two plastic key tabs flush with the socket wall.
Grab it on Amazon
CleanupAmazon Basics 99% isopropyl alcohol
High-purity alcohol that dissolves old paste and dries without residue.
Grab it on Amazon
Web design notes
Beginner lessons with code you can paste and run: the CSS tutorial (two small projects), the JavaScript tutorial and an online HTML editor to try them in.